Warm, dry conditions have helped to push the number of wildfires in Maine to three times the number that had been seen at this time last year.
As of Wednesday, the Maine Forest Service had investigated 229 fires, which had burned a total of 270 acres. At this time last year, 76 fires had burned 45 acres.
“Certainly it’s more than last spring. We had a lot more rain last spring,” said Kent Nelson, a fire prevention specialist for Maine Forest Service, which investigates all outdoor fires in the state.
Nelson attributes the difference to the lack of snowpack in late winter this year, the high temperatures in March and a small amount of rainfall this month. He said the Maine Forest Service handles an average of about 500 fires a year.
Most fires are caused by people with good intentions who get careless while burning brush or cause a spark while using a machine like a brush cutter, Nelson said.
Thursday was a Class 4 day in central Maine — the second-highest level of fire danger. Burn permits are not issued when the fire danger is Class 3 or above. The fire danger coincides with Wildfire Awareness Week.
Gorham Deputy Fire Chief Kenneth Fickett said Wednesday the conditions are what he would normally expect in August or early September.
“The big thing is the wind and the dry ground. There’s no water in the ground at all. Everything just dries up and it’s waiting for a fire, basically,” he said.
The state had an average 6.59 inches of rain from January to March, which is 3.20 inches below average, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“We’ve been dry for a couple of months now,” said meteorologist Margaret Curtis. “At this point, this is just considered a short-term drought. You hear them talking about drought in Texas. We’re not nearly at their level.”
The fires come at a time when recruitment and retention can pose challenges for fire departments that rely on call and volunteer firefighters.
Training requirements can be a hurdle because they are the same for career, volunteer and call firefighters, said Stephen Nichols, president of the Maine Fire Chiefs Association.
Nichols, who is Kennebunk’s fire chief, said a good number of call firefighters — perhaps 30 to 35 — typically come out when there’s a reported woods or structure fire in town. But it can be difficult for people to get out of their jobs to respond to smaller issues like alarms or trash can fires.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
